DURHAM, N.C. — The Notre Dame men’s soccer team finished the regular season on Friday evening at Koskinen Stadium against No. 5 Duke, falling to the Blue Devils by a score of 4-0.
The Irish will head to the west coast to open up ACC Tournament play against Stanford in the first round. The match will start at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Nov. 6 in Palo Alto and will be broadcast on ACCNX.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Blue Devils jumped out to a 1-0 lead early in the match, scoring off a strike that went in off the post from distance in the 13th minute from Colton Pleasants.
Duke nearly doubled the lead in the 36th minute, as Collin Travasos made a diving stop off a header to keep the lead at just one.
The Irish settled in during the final 15 minutes of the first half and nearly leveled the match in the 39th minute. KK Baffour created space inside the box and laced a left-footed shot on target but the Duke keeper made the save, allowing the hosts to take the 1-0 lead into the halftime intermission.
The Blue Devils double their lead in the 51st minute off a deflected shot that found the back of the net from Ulfur Bjornsson to increase their lead to 2-0.
Notre Dame had a great chance to get one back in the 73rd minute. Baffour got fouled in the final third and took the free kick quickly, finding Sebastian Green in space. Unfortunately for the Irish, Green’s one-time effort flashed just wide of the far post.
Just six minutes later the Irish earned another free kick and a deflected header from Bryce Boneau looked destined for the back of the net but the Blue Devils keeper made a great save to keep Notre Dame off the scoreboard.
The hosts added a third goal in the 84th minute after earning a penalty. The Irish were then reduced to 10 men after Baffour was shown a second yellow card and Duke scored a fourth in the 88th minute to seal the win.
McFARLAND FAMILY MEN’S HEAD SOCCER COACH CHAD RILEY’S TAKE
On the match…
“Obviously disappointed with the result. I thought we had some good moments and the guys really left it all out there. It was always going to be a tough week playing at Cal on Sunday and then having to travel back across the country for a Friday game in North Carolina. We will recover and be ready for Wednesday.”
UP NEXT
The Irish will head to the west coast to open up ACC Tournament play against Stanford in the first round. The match will start at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Nov. 6 in Palo Alto and will be broadcast on ACCNX.
FOLLOW THE IRISH ON SOCIAL MEDIA
For a behind the scenes look at the Notre Dame men’s soccer program follow the Irish on Twitter (@NDMenSoccer), Instagram (@ndmensoccer), Facebook (/NDMenSoccer) and TikTok (@ndmensoccer).